The present invention consists of a method of rapid sterilization, by exposure to high dose of irradiation, of huge quantities of medical waste. The present invention consists also in a method of processing the said type of sterilization at the very place where are located the medical waste to be sterilized, by using either a mobile station or a fixed irradiating chamber with protective walls mounted or dismounted as necessary.
Current method of sterilization, using low doses of energy, has the disadvantage of not permitting the complete sterilization of organic materials, such as the medical waste, at industrial level. At such level, the use of low doses of energy for the sterilization of large quantities of organic material would require a too long period of time. It is one object of this invention to both reduce the time of exposure and to increase considerably the volume of material to be exposed to irradiation, as the best way to use the radiation energy for sterilization at industrial levels.
An exposure to current types of irradiating facilities, mainly of hospital or municipal wastes, would require too much time for transportation and storage. It is, therefore, too costly, and creates other unforerseen problems. It is an object of this invention to avoid, mainly, the problems of transportation and of storage before exposure to irradiation of huge quantities of medical waste. This is accomplished either by transporting a mobile irradiating chamber mounted on a transportation means, or transporting only the components of the protective walls of an irradiating chamber to the place where the medical waste material is generated, and is sterilized at the site. The advantage of such new type of irradiating facilities would consist also in the possibility of the multiplication of both the mobile irradiating chambers and the fixed ones at the locations of the medical waste materials to be sterilized.
The present invention consists in a method of rapid sterilization of huge quantities of medical waste materials either in mobile irradiating chambers, or in fixed irradiating chamber, with protective walls to be assembled or disassembled as required.
The mobile and temporary irradiating chamber is built of protective walls mounted on a transportable means, such as a truck, train or ship and, as such, movable to the very locations of the organic material to be sterilized.
The shielding walls of the irradiating chamber consist of assembly of disassembly of panels made of concrete blocks or plates similar in shape, but different in size to the to the conventional lead bricks used for construction of fixed irradiating chambers. Said concrete plates are preferably at least 5 feet in thickness.
The same type of concrete panels could be used to construct a protective shield for a fixed irradiating chamber. Being subject to disassembly, they can be easily constructed or taken apart as needed.
The process of sterilization consists in the following steps. First, the organic materials to be sterilized are distributed onto an endless conveyor system which transports the to-be irradiated organic materials to an irradiating chamber. Secondly, the materials so conveyed are exposed to high doses of irradiation of up to 5,000,000 RAD, emitted from a source of cobalt 60 or cesium 137. The exposure to such a high dose of energy shortens the period of time of irradiation necessary for the sterilization of large quantities of waste organic materials.